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About Stanley Tucci:

Stanley Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director. He was nominated for several notable film awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The Lovely Bones (2009). Tucci's other recent celebrated roles have been in The Devil Wears Prada and Julie & Julia.

Tucci made his Broadway debut in The Queen and the Rebels. His film debut was in Prizzi's Honor. Tucci is known for his work in films such as The Pelican Brief, Kiss of Death, Road to Perdition and Big Night, and in the television series Murder One as the mysterious Richard Cross. Tucci co-wrote the award winning film, Big Night, with Joseph Tropiano, he also starred in it, and co-directed with Campbell Scott. Big Night premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where he and Tropiano, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay among many other awards.

He has been nominated three times for Golden Globes, and won twice - for his title role in Winchell, and for his supporting role as Adolph Eichmann in Conspiracy, both from HBO films. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Winchell. He was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play for his role as Johnny in the 2002 revival of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.

In 2008, Tucci partnered with his friend for more than 20 years, Steve Buscemi and Wren Arthur to form OLIVE Productions, a New York based film and television company. One of OLIVE's mandates is to cast a wide net when developing film and television material, with a portion of the projects to be earmarked for Stanley and Steve to direct. OLIVE is a co-producer of VINE TALK, and additionally has other TV shows in development at HBO and AMC. It also has film projects currently in development at HBO, SONY and Fox Searchlight. Tucci will direct an upcoming comedy entitled Mommy & Me starring Meryl Streep and Tina Fey as mother and daughter.

Stanley Tucci

Stanley
Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director.
He was nominated for several notable film awards, including an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The
Lovely Bones (2009). Tucci's other recent
celebrated roles have been in The Devil Wears
Prada and Julie &
Julia. He has been nominated three times for
Golden Globes, and won twice — for his title role in Winchell,
and for his supporting role as Adolph
Eichmann in Conspiracy,
both from HBO films. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award
nomination for Winchell.
He was nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play
for his role as Johnny in the 2002 revival of Terrence McNally’s
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.

Stephanie Caraway

Stephanie, a Certified Sommelier, began her career in New York working at a number of notable establishments such as Balthazar and the Cub Room. Moving on to Arizona, Ms. Caraway studied in the cellar of Peter Kasperski, while managing the Wine Spectator Award winning wine programs of Cowboy Ciao, Kazimierz, and Sea Saw. Subsequently, while with of Fox Restaurant Concepts, she was the steward of a quarter million dollar wine program and was responsible for the education of the staff of not only one restaurant, but several different restaurant concepts. Stephanie was honored by Food and Wine Magazine which named her one of the Top Sommeliers of 2010. She currently holds a position with Southern Wine & Spirits.

Ray Isle

Ray Isle is Executive Wine Editor of FOOD & WINE, the modern, stylish, trend-spotting, talent-seeking epicurean brand. In addition to overseeing F&W’s wine department, Isle writes the monthly column, Tasting Room, for the magazine, directs the title’s spirits coverage, and is the author of foodandwine.com’s wine blog, Tasting Room. Isle was promoted from wine editor in 2010, and has also served as deputy wine editor and senior editor. Prior to joining FOOD & WINE in 2005, Isle was managing editor of Wine & Spirits Magazine. He regularly conducts wine tasting seminars at epicurean events and appears as a wine and spirits expert on national television, including NBC’s Today and CBS’s The Early Show.

Alan Gilbert

Alan Gilbert became the New York Philharmonic’s Music Director in September 2009, and has already led the Orchestra on tours of Europe and Asia, and in performances in NY that the media has dubbed the Best of 2010. He has conducted other leading orchestras from Boston to San Francisco in the U.S., and the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and others abroad. Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, he holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, where he will become Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies in September 2011.

Jennifer Coolidge

Jennifer Coolidge grew up in Boston and attended Norwell High School. She began her comedy career in New York City with the Gotham City Improv group. She later moved to Los Angeles where she became a long time member of the Groundlings. Jennifer’s television and film career began in 1990 when she appeared in Seinfeld. She may be best known for her work as Stifler’s mom in the American Pie movies. Coolidge also had memorable roles in Legally Blonde and Best in Show. Her long history working in comedy has led her to become a versatile character actress who is able to deliver a comedic line like no one else.

Steven Raichlen

Steven Raichlen is an award-winning author, journalist, lecturer, and television host. His bestselling books and his Public Television shows—Primal Grill and Barbecue University—have redefined American barbecue. His 29 books include The Barbecue Bible, How to Grill and the new Planet Barbecue. His work has appeared in The NY Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, GQ, and Esquire. He is the founder of Barbecue University, and lectures throughout the country on the history and culture of barbecue. He holds a degree in French literature from Reed College and hosts a French language TV show called Le Maitre du Grill.

Host

Stanley Tucci

Wine Expert

Stephanie Caraway

Wine Expert

Ray Isle

Guest

Alan Gilbert

Guest

Jennifer Coolidge

Guest

Steven Raichlen

Côte Bonneville

2008

Yakima Valley

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $47

Efeste

2009

Columbia Valley

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $30

Januik Winery

2009

Columbia Valley

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $24

Owen Roe

2009

Columbia Valley

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $48

Rulo Winery

2009

Wahluke Slope

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $20

Woodward Canyon

2009

Washington State

Chardonnay

Suggested Retail Price: $44

Côte Bonneville

Efeste

Januik Winery

Owen Roe

Rulo Winery

Woodward Canyon

Columbia Valley

Though the mere mention of Washington is sure to conjure images of the Space Needle and rainy days, the Columbia Valley actually gets an average of 2 more hours of sunlight a day than California’s Napa Valley. Huh?

While it’s true that the area of the state to the west of the Cascade Mountain range is perpetually wet, chilly, and gray it’s the rare rain cloud that makes it to the other side. This other side, the Columbia Valley, makes for a wonderful place to grow wine grapes - generally on the drier side with plenty of hot days, chilly nights and an extensive system of rivers that act as helpful temperate moderators.

The Columbia Valley is widely known for its hot-blooded grapes; Syrah thrives in Walla Walla, Merlot and Cabernet in Yakima Valley. Chardonnay is also widely planted throughout the valley and you’ll find a smattering of Riesling

Though they may grow the same grapes as their peers down in Napa, the winemakers of Columbia Valley tend to make very different wines with them. This is especially true when it comes to Chardonnay.

Where California’s Chardonnays tend to be big, oaky, and indulgent, the wines of Washington’s Columbia Valley are much more focused on fruit and can seem almost stark in comparison at first taste. Crisp clean flavors of ripe apples and a streak of minerality tend to mark Columbia Valley’s Chardonnays. Bright, bracing acidity and tight structure hold up wines that are treated with a lighter hand and less oak.

That’s not to say you won’t find Chardonnays from Columbia Valley made in the California style – there are plenty to go around. There are two big important differences though: the soil and the vines grown. Columbia Valley lies across wide swaths of sandy loam while Napa’s Valley floor is made up of sedimentary gravel and clay. Also, the vines grown in Columbia Valley were grown and engineered at UC Davis to take longer to ripen in the valley’s long hot growing season. Napa’s vines, on the other hand, are generally clones from prestigious vines in France.

• Grapes were first planted in Washington at Fort Vancouver by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1825. By 1910, wine grapes were growing in many areas of the state, following the path of early settlers. For more information on Washington wines visit www.washingtonwine.org

• Washington produces more than 30 wine grape varieties; the four most widely planted varietals are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Riesling. Columbia Valley, which represents a full third of Washington State’s land mass, contains 99% of the grapes grown in the state.

• Chardonnay, the most consumed varietal in the United States, is one of the most widely planted grape varietals in the world.

• DNA testing has shown Chardonnay to be the descendant of two different grapes: the obscure Gouais Blanc, also known as Weißer Heunisch (thought to have been brought by the Romans from the Balkins) and the popular Pinot Noir.

• Chardonnay vines are hardy, easily cultivated and not prone to disease. The grapes are often called “malleable,” because they reflect the unique characteristics of their terroir and wine maker.

• The color of Chardonnay is highly variable, it can be pale straw-yellow, pale yellow with a greenish cast, bright lemon-yellow, or amber, described as “golden.”